Vision

I have a section of curbside yard that I have wanted, for years, to see transformed into something special to look at. These often-arid strips are actually city property, but homeowners are expected to care for what grows there. I had assorted grasses, none of which thrived, and weeds. That's why these sections are frequently called hell strips; they are "impossible." This was the year to do something about the situation. It was going to take heavy-duty work, more than I am able to do: rototilling, leveling, installing edging, digging holes for the plants, laying weed barrier, covering the surface with a couple tons of pebbles and two large rocks. I called in a crew from the garden center.

When the landscape planner came to arrange the work, I told him I wanted the area to be bright and beautiful but there had to be tough plants that could tolerate some "neglect." He looked it over. "Well, I see yarrow here," he said. "About three brown-eyed Susans here, some Stella de Oro daylilies—I really like those—and probably over there an Autumn Joy sedum," and so on. I am not gifted with the insight to see what an area will look like when the plants are mature and blooming. But this experienced designer said several times, "I can see . . ." He had a vision of what could be.

God's people need vision—not necessarily visions of a supernatural sense—but vision that can see what is not yet visible! In the spiritual realm, the things that have validity are those which are unseen by our human eyes. "We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (II Corinthians 4:18) God lives in the Eternal Present, and He speaks of those things which do not "exist" (in our temporal scheme of things) as though they did. (See Romans 4:17)

Like "father" Abraham, we need the trust in God that sees past the impossible to what can be and what, in God's eyes, already is.

MaryMartha

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

The Good and the Not-So-Good

In my shaded front yard, there is some grass that is stubborn enough to try growing where in a few more days there will be almost no sunshine. Even wild violets and white clover (weeds to real lawn people) are more desirable, I think, than the weedy grass that sticks up more than a foot above anything else. I have elected to deal with it by grubbing it out by hand. Wouldn't it be easier to spray the whole area with Roundup and start over? Yes, it might, but there are some things growing—like the vinca minor I planted as ground cover last year, and the violets and clover until I'm ready to replace them. I don't want to destroy what I've already done by getting rid of everything.

That reminded me of Jesus' parable about the tares (weeds) and wheat:

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.

The farmer’s workers went to him and said, "Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?"

"An enemy has done this!" the farmer exclaimed.

“Should we pull out the weeds?" they asked.

“No," he replied, "you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.” Matthew 13:24-30)

The problems in our society are so obvious and so serious that some people would like to just pull up our educational system, our politicized government, and even our religious institutions by their roots. As it is now, they believe, things are hopeless. But the result of such action—were it even possible—would be sheer chaos. No, we sometimes have to let the "weeds" grow too or else we will destroy what is good and necessary in our effort to eliminate the undesirable.

God will eventually sort out the weeds. We can trust Him with that job.

MaryMartha

Scripture quotation is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

Developing in the Dark

I remember my first camera: a Baby Brownie Special by Kodak, an absolute wonder of technology! It was tiny; it took 1-5/8 inch by 2-1/2 pictures on a roll of 127 film. The camera was molded Bakelite (a plastic now found only in collectible items), with a white push-button shutter release and a white film winder knob contrasting smartly with the sleek black body. A braided handle completed the stylish look! I was only ten or twelve, and easily impressed, I suppose!

When the whole roll of film had been exposed—I knew this by peering into the little red window in the back—I rolled it back onto the spool, and my mother or someone took it to the photo shop for developing. In a week or so (or whenever the next trip to town took place), I held in my hand the eight little photographs of my brothers, the dog, the cow barn, and grandma and grandpa at their house, their likenesses preserved forever!

Eventually I moved up to a slightly better camera, but still just a box that took black-and-white pictures. I enrolled in an elective photography class in high school. In the darkroom, in complete blackout, I rolled exposed film into a light-tight canister and poured the developer in. After the prescribed time elapsed, I clipped the negatives up to a line to dry and later printed the photos or cropped and enlarged them with only a faint red light in the room. Mostly I worked in the dark to produce my work.

Sometimes life is like that. Everything is bright and sunny for a time. All is well, and we suppose this is how things are going to be now. But sometimes we have to work in the dark. In fact, that is often how God accomplishes His purposes. We don't stay in the dark always, for He leads us in the way of light. But sometimes while something is "developing," we have to wait without seeing clearly. The children of Israel were guided along their wilderness trek by the cloud of God's presence. God was in the dark cloud that covered the mountain as He issued the Ten Commandments. When Moses went to the Tent of Meeting to speak with God, a cloud covered the entrance. When the Tabernacle for worship was set up, a cloud of God hovered over the place of atonement which covered the Ark. When Solomon's temple was dedicated a great cloud filled it. When Jesus gave up His life on the Cross, darkness filled the land.

"He made darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies." (Psalm 18:11 NKJV) Know that when the process of "developing" and "enlarging" is finished, something of lasting value will have been worked into your life.

MaryMartha

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Art from http://www.brownie-camera.com/manuals/babybspecial/index.shtml

Never Late

In a world of fast food, high-speed travel, and almost-instant communication, we rather expect God too to act quickly on our behalf! The Creator of days and nights, months and years, views time somewhat differently than we earth creatures do, so that our expectation of His timely help may be skewed. Oh yes, we believe He is going to take care of the situation, but when? "On time" for us often translates to "now," and that may not be how God sees the situation at all.

The prophet Jeremiah sent a long letter to the captive Israelites, assuring them of God's continued care and His eventual deliverance for them. One verse from that passage is a favorite of many people: " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' " (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV) Well then, let's see those plans unfolding now, the prosperity now, the hopeful future now!

That was not God's way. Before the wonderful promise we often quote, this caution is written, "As soon as Babylon's seventy years are up and not a day before, I'll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." (Jeremiah 29:10, 11 MSG) Not a day before God's time was right would there be the answer the people longed for. Not a day before God has completed His wise preparation will we see Him show up to take care of us as He promised.

As I was growing up, I often heard ministers and evangelists expound on God's faithfulness by saying, "God is never late, although He's seldom early." It often takes awhile—most of a lifetime, perhaps—for us to learn that is how He works. The Psalmist said, "My times are in Your hand." Indeed, the entire great expanse we call "time" is held by God, so we can absolutely trust Him with the tiny piece of it that concerns you and me.

MaryMartha

Scripture quotation marked NIV is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture marked MSG is taken from The Message. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Working on the Inside

I don’t see as many workmen at the construction site of the new arena as I have often seen in the past. The building’s exterior is largely completed, but there is still a lot going on inside. The project manager reported last weekend that over two hundred fifty workers are engaged in mechanical, electrical and plumbing tasks, as well as brick and stone work. Only those who are supervising the project really know what is happening in there; the rest of us merely drive by and must wait to see the results until some months from now.

God too does some of His best work very quietly, often barely visible, but tended with the utmost care. Our very persons are an example. “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb . . . You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.” (Psalm 139:13, 15) Spiritual birth and growth are even more miraculous! The words of a beautiful Christmas hymn speak of this inside work: “How silently, how silently the wondrous Gift is giv’n! So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heav’n. No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.”

Take heart! When you don’t see much happening on the outside of your personal concern, know that there is still a lot going on where God is at work on the inside.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotation taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Faithful Through the Winter

One fall I had a profusely blooming bed of pansies in front of my house, their bright "faces" giving me great pleasure. Pansies are a hardy little flower; those planted in the fall bloom awhile, rest through the winter, and burst into bloom again in the spring. That year we had an unusually mild winter. I kept waiting and waiting to cover the bed with the usual quilt of brown leaves upon which a snowy coverlet would then be laid, keeping everyone cozy through the long cold season. Since the bitter weather we always expect in Kansas did not arrive, I ended up not covering the pansy bed at all.

Through most of the winter months, the pansy plants stayed green, and a couple of them never did cease their fall blooming. Those pansies brave enough to keep blooming bowed their heads in the chilling winds and frosty nights, but by afternoon, they raised them again to the warmth and light of the sun, giving me the unexpected pleasure of flowers beside my door all through the winter.

Most of the pansies followed the normal pattern of being still alive, but dormant throughout the winter. Those few who persisted in blooming were far ahead of the others when spring days came and it was actually time to put forth blossoms again. While the others were stirring themselves to put on buds, the brave winter-hardy souls had an abundance of large blooms. I took special delight in seeing that those who had weathered the winter were far ahead of those who had taken the winter off!

Faithfulness. That’s what pansies speak to me about. We are tempted sometimes not to wait out the tough times; we think about pulling back to avoid any risk in that personal relationship or that cause in which we are interested or that opportunity coming our way.

May God help us just to hold steady through the hard times, through the winter when nothing seems to be happening, through the cold season when there seems to be every reason to pull back and check whether it's worthwhile to invest our time, energy, and resources. Remember, no season lasts forever! If we are faithful through the winter, when spring comes again, our lives are strong and steady, ready once more to be productive and beautiful!

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Things Mama Taught Me: "We'll See"

My flawlessly honest mother was very careful about keeping her promises, even to us children. So it follows that she had to be very careful about making promises. I’ll admit that we pushed the limit pretty hard, trying to extract some word of certainty from her. “Can we go to Grandma’s house this weekend? Can we? Can we?” “Can I have a camera for Christmas? Can I, please?” “Can Marlene spend the night?” “Can Daddy bring home some pop?” “Can I . . . Can we . . . ?” And my mother would answer calmly, “We’ll see.”

Had she said, “Hmm . . . maybe,” or “Well, I think so . . .” one of us likely would have whined later when our hopes did not materialize, “But you promised!” That little bit of hesitation, that holding out of slim hope surely was meant to be a promise, wasn’t it? But “We’ll see,” meant just that: When the time comes, we will see then what we will see! Maybe you will have what you want, maybe not. Right now, I don’t know, so you will just have to wait, because I am not going to be trapped into making a “promise” I will eventually not be able to keep.

I’ve been thinking about the waiting that Christians do, looking toward “the end of all things.” We know some things: we will be with our Lord, and we will be with a host of others who love Him too, but there are a lot of things we just don’t know. We will have to wait and see. Unlike my mother’s carefulness not to promise, God has given us great and precious promises, and unlike the uncertainty of our childish hopes being fulfilled, God has planned for us fullness of joy.

“We’ll see.” Truly, and with full understanding at last, we’ll see!

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Don't Be Surprised

There are many surprises in the Christian life, for God is infinitely creative in His relationship with us! There are some things, however, that take us by surprise that really shouldn’t if we are careful readers of the Word.

— Don’t be surprised on the insistence that one must be “born again.” A co-worker of mine has a new baby daughter. He is not at all reluctant to tell us that Bridget was born yesterday morning because that’s how she arrived here to participate in human life—she was born. Jesus tried to explain to Nicodemus, a respected Jewish teacher, that if he wanted to participate in the Kingdom of God, he needed to be born a second time. Both kingdoms, the earthly one and the heavenly one, are entered by birth. Jesus told him, “Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ “ (John 3:6, 7 NLT)

We were meant for the heavenly Kingdom; that was God’s plan all along, so don’t be surprised! Believing that to be true is as natural an expectation as telling an airliner sitting on the runway, “Don’t be surprised that I am expecting you to take off and fly. You were made to fly!”

— Don’t be surprised that Jesus is both Savior and Judge. The Jewish rulers were in an uproar because the Lord had healed a crippled man on the Sabbath. He took this opportunity to declare very openly His connection to the Father. He explained that in “an hour that is coming—and now is—” those who are dead in their sins receive life by hearing (believing) Him. He could give life because He was the Son of God; He was one with God. He also claimed that authority to judge had been given to Him. He could judge because he was the Son of Man; He was one of us. “Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment.” (John 5:25-29 NLT)

— Don’t be surprised at God’s interventions. One afternoon Peter and John went up to the temple to the three o’clock prayer meeting. They were stopped by a crippled beggar who wanted alms, and the disciples gave Him what they had—the life of Jesus Christ! The man got up and went into the temple with them, leaping and praising God. When all the people saw the man whom they knew had been lame from his birth, they were amazed. Peter, seeing that he now had an audience, addressed the crowd. “People of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness? For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this.” (Acts 3:12, 13 NLT)

— Don’t be surprised at your difficulties. “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.” (I Peter 4:12, 13) Sometimes it is very difficult to wait for the glory, whether at the end of the particular trial or the end of life itself. “Hold on, my child, joy comes in the morning; weeping only lasts for the night. Hold on, my child, joy comes in the morning; the darkest hour means dawn is just in sight.” (Reader, do you know the author?)

— Don’t be surprised when not everyone accepts you. I often hear people lament the restraint or ridicule that Christians face in their workplaces, schools, or communities. Such mild opposition does not even merit the label “persecution” when every day Christians in some parts of the world are losing their lives for the faith. As the writer to the Hebrews cautioned, “In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don't feel sorry for yourselves.” (Hebrews 12:4 MSG) Some Christians are angry at those who oppose them, even murderous in their hearts, but “we must not be like Cain, who joined the Evil One and then killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because he was deep in the practice of evil, while the acts of his brother were righteous. So don't be surprised, friends, when the world hates you. This has been going on a long time.” (I John 3:12, 13 MSG)

So . . . Don’t be too surprised. You’ve been warned!

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Take Time to Wait

Time is a precious, limited personal resource. There is no substitute for it, and it is non-renewable commodity. Although we talk about “saving time,” we cannot accumulate it in an account somewhere to be withdrawn later. We speak of “losing time” or “killing time,” but we can’t really do that either, because it regularly just keeps appearing and disappearing. We are urged to “make time,” but that is clearly impossible.

What we are able to do is arrange it, utilize it, profit from it, enjoy it—or we can fail to prioritize its use, idle it away, not recognize its value, consider it a liability. The Bible urges us to redeem the time. “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside [not part of the Church], redeeming the time.” (Colossians 4:5 NKJV) Sadly, many of the modern translations render this as making the most of opportunities, but the use of “redeem” is significant. The Greek word means to buy up something out of the market so as to make a profit from it. When we buy something, we have to give up something—money, labor, whatever meets the seller’s price. Redeeming time, then, implies that we have to determine what is worth giving up in order to release the time for something we consider more valuable.

Because we place such importance on time, we often feel that waiting is a useless waste of it. I’m not talking about waiting for a slow-moving freight train to clear the intersection, or waiting for our turn in the doctor’s office—although those occasions do not have to be spent aimlessly either. I am thinking of waiting for the time to be right for our taking a certain action, waiting for circumstances to be readied for the opportunity we need, waiting for God to do something! We get frustrated and impatient, because according to our schedule, things should have been done yesterday!

Perhaps we need to re-think waiting, not as a waste of time, but as an investment. Jesus was trying to explain the Kingdom to His listeners in the synagogue. "How can I picture God's kingdom? It's like yeast that a woman works into enough dough for three loaves of bread—and waits while the dough rises." (Luke 13:20, 21 The Message) Quietly, slowly, but very dependably, the “starter” that the homemaker mixes with the other ingredients works its way throughout the dough. She does not try to hurry it by beating it; she does not give up and throw the mess out. She waits while something happens inwardly.

Much of our waiting for help, for opportunities, or for answers can be experienced as inner growing time. It is not to be ignored or scorned or hurried. We can redeem (buy back) the waiting time by giving in exchange our anxieties, our preconceived ideas, and our desperate haste. Then we will see Kingdom values permeate the whole of our lives, a result well worth the wait!

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture marked NKJV taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture marked The Message taken from The Message. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Mrs. Noah and the Ark

Most mothers get to share their living space with various members of the animal kingdom as they see their children through the nurturing years: a fish tank of guppies, a stray mongrel, a surprise litter of kittens. And the extraordinary as well: a fledgling hawk or a baby skunk, a pocketful of roly-poly bugs or a lizard. Yes, many mothers put up with pets, but surely Mrs. Noah was the champion of them all! She is another of the little-known Bible women that evoke my interest.

Noah and his family had maintained their integrity even while all around them wickedness increased beyond description. One day God spoke to Noah. “I am sorry that I gave the earth to man to care for. Every intent of their hearts is only evil continually. I am going to destroy what I so recently created by a great flood of waters on the earth, but I will establish my covenant with you—you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives.”

“I want you to make an ark,” God continued, and He described with exact dimensions the vessel that He wanted Noah to build. As well as the eight in Noah’s family, God instructed him to keep alive in the ark two of every sort of living thing—all birds, all animals, all creeping things. And there would have to be provisions for the family and for all the animals. Talk about the care and feeding of pets! Noah and his sons went to work. As it took shape, the ark must have looked like an apartment complex, its stalls and roosts being prepared for occupancy. Storerooms took shape too, some for provisions, some for waste. Ewww! Poor Mrs. Noah.

The day finally came when the work was finished. Then God told Noah, “Come, you and all your family, here to the ark. Then every sort of breathing animal will come to you. Take a pair of each, a male and a female to ensure that every kind of creature will survive the flood. Of the beasts and birds that are approved for eating and for sacrifice, take seven pairs. One week from today, I will begin forty days and forty nights of rain. I will wash the earth clean by destroying all the living things I have created.” That procession of animals lasted for seven days, then Noah’s family followed them into the ark, and God secured the door.

And it began to rain. Like a waterfall suddenly loosed over the sill of heaven’s window, the rain poured down, and underground waters gushed forth. Inside, the family was safe and dry—and busy too, feeding and watering the animals and cleaning out their stalls (although all the creatures may have been in a state of semi-hibernation—eating and drinking little and excreting little, their predatory natures suspended along with their territorial and mate selection habits).

After the fortieth night, there was an unnerving silence—no rain pounding on the roof. But even though it had stopped raining, those inside would have to wait until the waters receded before they could leave their boat. How long, how long? After 150 days afloat—maybe Mrs. Noah made marks beside the door?—there was a jolt and the motion of the boat ceased. They had landed! Another two and a half months of waiting, and they were able to see the very tops of mountains. Finally, a full year and ten days after they entered the ark, God told Noah, “Leave the boat, all of you. Release the animals and birds so they can reproduce in great numbers.”

As the animals crept and ran and hopped and flew by on their way to freedom, Noah caught some of those that were approved for offering to the Lord. Before he ever dug a well or built a fire pit, he erected an altar of gratitude to God for escape from the floodwaters and release from the clutches of the evil society that had so completely surrounded them. No doubt they knew that the human race would become wicked again, but they had the promise of God’s mercy, “I will never again curse the earth, bringing a flood to destroy all living things. As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night.” They looked up and there, from horizon to horizon, was an arch in the heavens, glowing with brilliant colors.

God is making a covenant with us,” Noah explained, “and with our descendants, and with all these birds and livestock and wild animals. He solemnly promises that He will never send another flood that destroys the earth. God has said, ‘I am giving you evidence of my eternal covenant with you and all living creatures. I will send rain clouds over the earth, but I will place my there also. When I see the rainbow in the clouds I will remember my covenant with you and with everything that lives.’ ”

So does the Eternal One need something to cause His remembrance? Hardly. But because we are the ones who need reminding, He gives a sign testifying to His faithfulness. While we are remembering, He is with us, also remembering. He will always be aware of His covenant, and when we see the rainbow, we will be aware too of His covenant loyalty.

Mrs. Noah couldn’t have known then what we know now. From heaven’s perspective, the rainbow, seen on earth as an arc, is a perfect, unbroken circle. God’s love and God’s faithfulness and God’s provision, viewed from His eternal perspective, are complete and perfect. That would have been hard to see when Noah was mocked during the long years of boatbuilding. It would not be easy to keep that in mind when seasickness and animal smells and sleeping in the dormitory made the voyage seem long. It would be especially hard to believe it when later the family structure was torn by Ham’s impudent pleasure at seeing his father drunken and naked. But God always remembers.

When we wonder, sometimes, why things turn out as they do, we can look at the rainbow and have our hope restored. God does all things well. All earth has a promise; all creation groans for redemption. If we wait long enough, we will see it. He will without fail cause the “ark” of our lives to ride high during the turbulent storm. He will eventually open wide the closed door. He will bring us out of a closed-up circumstance to a new and fruitful place. And then He will fling the rainbow into the sky to tell us, “See, I told you!”

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Why the Dark?

Most living things require light. (There are a few nasty things that do best in the dark, like the green stuff that grows in the back of the refrigerator—and some others as well!) For the most part, however, we think of light as contributing to life. It aids growth and productivity.

Even though light is essential to many living things, life is actually conceived in darkness, in the secret places of the womb and the earth. The Psalmist speaks of this darkness. “You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.” (Psalm 139:15 NLT) And long before that, there was the Spirit of God brooding, mother-hen-like, over the waiting creation at the beginning of time. This creative darkness came even before the light.

Jesus taught, “Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over.” (John 12:24 The Message) Again, the darkness comes before light and new life.

We are often uncertain about one thing or another in our lives. We are sometimes confused by the very fact that we are confused! Isn’t Jesus the Light of the world, and isn’t the Word of God light to our pathway? Well, then why the dark?

The Darkness Is for You

Darkness first, before the light,
And heavy with portent of life,
The Spirit hovered o’er the deep.
Why dark when God Himself is light
And both are quite alike to Him?
Why night when day is all the same?

“The darkness is for you,” He said,
“Divided into spans by light
Created by My spoken Word.
The day which always follows night—
Not day then night, as you suppose—
Is but a part of my design.

“My Spirit needs His brooding time
Before the hidden plan breaks forth
From darkness where it is conceived.
Be patient then, and never doubt
The goodness that I have in store
If you will wait for Light to come!”

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotation marked NLT is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com